Vehicle Research

4x4 Pickups Now Dominate Utility Fleets

April 9, 2018
• by Staff

Image courtesy of Utilimarc

Among utility fleets, four-wheel drive pickup trucks have become the dominant light-duty pickup, a change from five years ago when there was an even distribution in 4x4 and 4x2 pickup trucks, according to Utilimarc, a fleet data and telematics company.

“Utilimarc was surprised to see that the percentage of 4x4 pickups keeps growing — possibly eventually leading to the demise of the 4x2,” according to the company’s blog.

For the analysis, Utilimarc used data from 2012 to 2016 from 50 of its utility fleet benchmarking clients, comprising 8,700 light-duty pickup trucks (Ford F-150, Chevrolet 1500, and Dodge 1500). In 2012, four-wheel drive vehicles made up 51% of light-duty trucks — by 2016, it had risen to 69%.

The company also found that four-wheel drive vehicles tend to be newer (5.42 years versus 7.28 years for 4x2 vehicles), more expensive to purchase, and are driven significantly more — an average 3,641 more miles annually than 4x2 trucks. A look into the average number of days between unscheduled/demand repairs found that the 4x4 trucks stayed out of the shop slightly longer — averaging 78 days on average versus 77 days for 4x2 trucks.

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